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Barcelona beat Al-Ahli 5-3 in Match of Champions

Wednesday, 14 December 2016 3:16 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 14 December 2016 3:16 AM ]

©AFP

Spanish giants Barcelona have defeated Saudi Arabian champions Al-Ahli 5-3 to win the "Match of Champions" in Qatar. But despite that, there was a special guest in Tuesday’s match.

Six-year-old Murtaza Ahmady from Afghanistan, who became a social media sensation earlier this year after wearing a blue white striped plastic bag with "Messi" dubbed on the back, finally turned his dream into reality as he became Messi's personal mascot when the teams walked out before the game.

But it seemed that Murtaza didn’t want to leave his hero and had to be eventually carried off the pitch by the referee so the match could begin. And when it started, the Catalans went ahead 3-nil inside the first 16 minutes through Luis Suarez, Messi and Neymar.

The famous trio were then all brought off by coach Luis Enrique after 32 minutes, giving the Arabians a chance to get a foothold into the game as the match ended 5-3 with Barcelona lifting the Qatar Airways Cup. The day though belonged to little Murtaza who provided the lasting memories from the occasion.

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